DESPITE SOME EVIDENCE to the contrary, the current Trump administration has so far managed to at least appear to be more coherent and less chaotic than his first outing as president.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Trump\u2019s first term, Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff flew off the bookshelves<\/a> and seemed to epitomise the White House\u2019s impression on the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n That four-year administration had a turnover among the senior positions\u00a0within the executive of 92% \u2013 meaning more than nine in 10 people who started with Trump in the White House did not make it through to the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n The figure outstripped any other recent president, with the speed of the departures in the first two years the most striking aspect to an analysis by the Brookings Institute<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Fast-forward to Trump II and there is an impression that this administration has less of the chaos, that is if you ignore the policies that are arguably more chaotic.\u00a0<\/p>\n The argument goes that there is less of the Fire and Fury and instead a greater cohesion.<\/p>\n A study last month by think-tank Partnership for Public Service<\/a> gave lie to this impression, pointing out that if you look at positions within Cabinet departments that are confirmed by the Senate, more have left so far during Trump II (27) than Trump I (11).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThough his first term was seen as turbulent regarding personnel, Trump has seen nearly two and a half times as many departures this administration as his first,\u201d the think-tank states in research published last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n The aforementioned Brookings Institute has come to the same conclusion, pointing out earlier this year<\/a> that Trump\u2019s second term is \u201cseemingly more stable\u201d than the first but that the numbers don\u2019t really bear that out.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump stopped the practice of publicly firing senior staff members, something that was commonplace in 2017,\u201d Brookings said, adding:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Staff members who departed during 2025 were much less publicly visible, and their departure was marked by less animus than some departures during Trump\u2019s first term.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It is this context that we must view the news that\u00a0White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is to leave her role at the end<\/a> of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n Given her position, Leavitt has been among the most visible members of Trump\u2019s team and significantly has been an ever-present in the role since the beginning of Trump II.<\/p>\n This fact is extra noteworthy given the upheaval among Trump\u2019s communications team during the first administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spicy<\/strong><\/p>\n TIME<\/a> \/ YouTube<\/p>\n During those years, a number of infamous names come to mind when reflecting on the people Trump had going to bat for him in front of the White House press pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first person to hold that position during Trump\u2019s first term was Sean Spicer, who lasted for just six months and who is probably best remembered<\/a> for launching\u00a0an unprecedented assault on the media for its reporting of the crowd size at Trump\u2019s inauguration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spicer, an Irish-American, became a bit of a laughing stock on Saturday Night Live<\/a> and ended up on the US version of Dancing With the Stars<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthony Scaramucci infamously lasted just 11 days as Trump\u2019s communications director in 2017 and another reality TV connection was the 11 months former Apprentice contestant Omarosa Newman lasted in another comms role<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of Trump\u2019s most forgettable press secretaries was Stephanie Grisham, who lasted for about nine months and upon whose departure the Washington Post said<\/a> was \u201cinfamous for being invisible\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reason for her invisibility was the extraordinary fact that she never held a single press briefing, a first for her position.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Grisham was replaced by\u00a0Kayleigh McEnany in April 2020 as Covid-19 was taking off McEnany and Trump\u2019s team took the opposite approach, holding daily press briefings that were a disaster for Trump and US efforts to stop the spread of the virus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump musing on whether people should be injected with disinfectant<\/a> to fight Covid-19 has US media wondering whether they should in fact stop broadcasting the briefings altogether<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n NBC New York<\/a> \/ YouTube<\/p>\n These wild errors in communications strategy show just how difficult it is to get right and how Trump may struggle to replace Leavitt.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s other most successful press secretary was\u00a0Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who although frequently criticised for lying to the media is now Governor of Arkansas and was even touted as a possible running mate for Trump in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n At two years in the job, she remains Trump\u2019s longest-serving press secretary eclipsing Leavitt\u2019s 19 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n